Thursday, September 08, 2005

1. Kansas City Chiefs - Coach Dick Vermeil has finally gotten it right in K.C. The offense will continue where it left off even with their once-vaunted O-Line slowing down. What will take the Chiefs to the AFC Championship is a slew of shrewd defensive pickups. Led by LB Kendrell Bell, DE Carlos Hall and S Patrick Surtain. I should have drafted QB Trent Green for my fantasy team!

2. Oakland Raiders - These Raiders are an enigma. WR Randy Moss, the game's great gamebreaker is obviously an integral part of their offense but every part is intricately linked to whether RB Lamont Jordan can free up Moss and whether another wideout such as, Jerry Porter or Ronald Curry can produce when Moss is double-teamed. If QB Kerry Collins can stay healthy, a big if because their backup is sorely ineffective, he could improve on his Oakland record for yards thrown. If the Raiders falter it will be blamed on defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, because they made zero changes in their D. It's up to him to get them to latch onto the new 3-4 scheme. It won't happen because the personnel isn't there except for LB Danny Clark. Jordan runs for 1,000 yards and excels at catching the ball. Moss will account for two more wins. 8-8 seems attainable.

3. San Diego Chargers - QB Drew Brees will come back to earth, for sure. The 2004 Chargers were no fluke, the talent is there and getting better. The familiarity of Brees to the rest of the AFC West will be the bane of the 'Bolts season. This is a Marty Schottenheimer team, anyway. They never go anywhere. If RB LaDainian Tomlinson can stay healthy, he'll challenge Willis McGahee in Buffalo for the rushing crown and score a boatload of TD's

4. Denver Broncos - In a division steeped in talented running backs, Denver's poor D-Line will be much too porous to win many games. Why did they pickup so many defenders from the Browns? Weren't they bad last year, anyhow? RB Tatum Bell, the next great system back in Denver is the real deal. A down year for the Broncos might raise the volume on chatter calling for coach Mike Shanahan's head. The rat-faced head coach will live another year, though.

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